Joe Locke is regarded by many to be the most gifted vibraphonist of his generation.
In addition to his strengths as an instrumentalist, recent recordings and live
performances by the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, the Joe Locke Quartet,
Rev.elation - The Music of Milt Jackson and his group "4 Walls of Freedom",
offer evidence of his ever-growing stature as a band leader, composer and conceptualist.

His most recent recording with pianist Frank Kimbrough is Verrazano
Moon (OmniTone), the title track of which was written in tribute
to late saxophonist Bob Berg. It follows the duo's critically acclaimed
two previous recordings on OmniTone, The
Willow and Saturn's
Child, which helped debut the OmniTone label.

The critical community continually cites Joe Locke for his artistic work. "There
seems little doubt that Locke, with his ability to play cool and funky, heady
and relaxed, is set to become the pre-eminent vibraphonist in jazz." (The
Times, London). He has been voted the #1 vibist in DownBeat Magazine's Critic's
Poll (TDWR) and Brazil's International Jazz Poll, was honored with the "Mallet
Player of the Year" Award by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) in
2006, and has received two Golden Ear "Concert of the Year" Awards — in
2005 with the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group for their concert at the Ballard
Jazz Festival, released on CD as "Live in Seattle" on the Origin
Label, and 2007 for his performance at the Port Townsend Jazz Festival.

Joe Locke has released more than 25 recordings as a band leader, and appeared
on almost 100 albums as a guest artist.

As a jazz musician, Locke was precocious, having played with such luminaries
as Dizzy Gillespie, Pepper Adams and Mongo Santamaria before he was even out
of high school. Since moving to New York City in 1981, Joe has performed with
Grover Washington Jr., Kenny Barron, Dianne Reeves, Eddie Daniels, Jerry Gonzales'
Fort Apache Band, Rod Stewart, The Beastie Boys, Eddie Henderson, Hiram Bullock,
Bob Berg, Ron Carter, Jimmie Scott, Geoffrey Keezer, The Mingus Big Band and
Randy Brecker, among many others. Joe has toured extensively throughout the
world, both as leader and guest soloist. Some highlights include a 16 city
tour of Russia, which culminated in a concert with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra,
under the direction of world-renowned violist, Yuri Bashmet; a 30 city tour
of all major capitals of Europe, performing Charles Mingus' magnum opus, "Epitaph" as
a featured soloist under the direction of distinguished conductor, Gunther
Schuller; a series of volcanic duet concerts in Italy with pianist Cecil Taylor,
where Joe went head-to-head for three nights with the undisputed high priest
of the avantgarde.

The past years have been increasingly busy for Locke. Besides his work with
the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, the Joe Locke Quartet and his duo project
with fellow vibes and marimba artist Christos Rafalides, he most recently formed
a brand new musical collaboration, "Joe Locke - Force of Four". The
group — featuring Robert Rodriguez, Johnathan Blake
and Ricardo Rodriguez — will be recording their first album in spring
2008 on the Origin label for a summer 2008 release, followed by international
concert engagements.

Another one of Locke's more recent recording "Rev.elation" with
Milt Jackson's last Band remained on top of the Jazz Week album charts for
an unprecedented 8 week run in 2005.

While maintaining a busy touring schedule, Locke also found time to work with
students. A concert in Rochester, NY with the School of the Arts jazz ensemble
(through The Commission Project) proved to be a memorable and rewarding experience. "I
worked with the students for several weeks leading up to the concert, and real
friendships were forged in that time. The name of the event was Pass it
On! - the implication of the title being that I was passing on my knowledge
and experience to a new generation of musicians. But it was such a mutual exchange...
I learned as much from them as they did from me. The experience put me back
in touch with one of the reasons I fell in love with music in the first place,
namely, the sense of community that comes from creating something with others."